8th Children's parliament

8th ANNUAL NELSON MANDELA CHILDRENS’ PARLIAMENT 2018
A delegation of staff from the Office for the Rights of the Child within the broader Northern Cape Office of the Premier accompanied ten children to Limpopo for the eighth (8th) Annual Children’s parliament which took place on 5 October 2018. The event was hosted by the National Department of Social Development in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund and Save the Children South Africa.

The aim of this yearly gathering is to encourage children to exchange ideas about children’s rights to safety and protection as enshrined both in the Constitution and the Children’s Act. Children have always occupied a special place in Tata Nelson Mandela’s heart, so much so that within his first year as President of a democratic South Africa, he launched the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund as a sign of commitment to the well-being of children. The theme for 2018 was “A Mandela in Every Generation: Amplifying the Voices of Children.”

Children from all provinces were given the opportunity to participate in policy development and their work will be directly linked to the development of the new National Plan of Action for Children (NPAC) and provide input for the National Child Participation Framework. The Northern Cape Province’s delegation of children was representative of all five districts within the Province and included learners with disabilities. These learners are from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and highly appreciated the opportunity to come up with input and resolutions to issues that affect them and their peers under identified commissions which included the “Institutionalization of Children’s Rights”, the “Last Declaration of 2017”, and “Violence against Children.”

The Northern Cape Provincial Ambassador is fifteen (15) year old Nicholas Malan from Prieska who is responsible with his team of District Ambassadors to conduct various projects and deliver a comprehensive report at next year’s gathering of the Children’s Parliament. The District Ambassadors are Diketso Moholwe (15), Jacque Olyn (16), Reginald Coetzee (17), Tshwanelo Lekgetho (16), Keamogetse Modise (14), Nyakallo Gaobosi (13), Alexandra Nieuweveldt (15), Yonela Blouw (15) and Tlotleng Galobewe (18).
The team from the Office of the Rights of the Child were very proud of the serious and diligent manner the Northern Cape Child delegates took this opportunity and conducted themselves in an exemplary manner. Moreover they represented the province spectacularly on this national stage and we wish them best of luck in all their current projects as well as all their future endeavours. It was certainly a joy to behold their collective efforts, thereby indicating that our future looks promising indeed.